Oh please... Tea Party is an Idea. And the Principles the Tea Party stands for are controlling the political narrative.
Exactly. Those candidates who went for the "tea party" vote were given enough publicity and financing to be serious challengers. From there, it was up to them to not screw up and present a cohesive, convincing vision of what they see as the best future of the US. They lacked the instincts to move in on fast moving events such as federal over-reach at the Bundy ranch, the still absurd banking system that's destroying all but the elite financially, and to articulate how across the political spectrum the invasion of the US and cheap labor is costing US citizens jobs.
They can't whine. They know they have to be better and more convincing than the mainstream. The problem still is, I suspect, that these "tea party" candidates saw it as a path to get into office and then side with the RINO-globalist-corporate sponsors who are so generous to those who side with them.